A Short Account of the History of Mathematics

by W.W. Rouse Ball, Paul E J King (Narrator)

"This book, most of which is a transcript of some lectures I delivered this year, gives a concise account of the history of mathematics. I have tried to make it as little technical as possible, and I hope that it will be intelligible to any one who is acquainted with the elements of mathematics. Partly to facilitate this, partly to gain space, I have generally made use of modern notation in quoting any results; the reader must therefore recollect that while the matter is the same as that of any writer to whom reference is made his proof is sometimes translated into a more convenient and familiar language."

Genres: Audiobook, Nonfiction, Mathematics, Science, History

20 pages, Audiobook

First published January 1, 1900

About the author

Walter William Rouse Ball, known as W. W. Rouse Ball (14 August 1850 – 4 April 1925), was a British mathematician, lawyer, and fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge from 1878 to 1905. He was also a keen amateur magician, and the founding president of the Cambridge Pentacle Club in 1919, one of the world's oldest magic societies.

Rouse Ball was educated at University College School, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge in 1870, where he became a scholar and the first winner of Smith's Prize. He gained his BA in 1874 as second Wrangler and then became a Fellow of Trinity in 1875, which he remained for the rest of his life.

He is buried at the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground in Cambridge, and is commemorated in the naming of a small pavilion situated on Jesus Green in Cambridge. The Rouse Ball Professorship of Mathematics and the Rouse Ball Professorship at English Law, both held at Cambridge, were created in 1927 from a bequest by Rouse Ball.

Reviews

[Pedro V Hernández Serrano · Rating 4 out of 5]

The toughest reading of my life so far, beautiful

[Gwyneth Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this as a Libri Vox Audio Book. It was a very good narration.

As can be expected, I learned a lot of history and also more about the different branches of Mathematics and its pioneers.

A book of the author's time and place, it shows how embargos can affect the spread of knowledge.
Destruction of the university in Alexandria, Egypt led to scholars relocating to Byzantium (Istanbul, Turkey)
The scholars in Syracuse kept knowledge to themselves
The conflict between Moors and Christians kept knowledge out of Europe
The first copy of Euclid's Elements that got translated into Latin accelerated study of Math in Europe
The rules of the church kept knowledge within religious institutions
The rules of the church prevented the use of Arabic numerals
The dispute on the origin of calculus between Newton and Leibniz kept England isolated from developments in Europe
The scholar Euler having worked in Prussia, France and Russia helped to spread knowledge

I benefited from the time spent listening.

[Catherine Puma · Rating 2 out of 5]

My husband and I listened to this on a car ride because I like Audible and learning new things, and my husband likes mathematics and Tony Shalhoub. This is soothing to listen to, but the content does not go into sufficient detail. Egyptian, Chinese, and Greek elements of mathematics are touched upon, but nothing of India's contributions are mentioned at all!

Thinking back on this, I am suspicious that Audible may have only had Tony Shalhoub read the first chapter or something of this book in order to make this 30 min audio production. Right after finishing this, my husband said, "How can you have a history of mathematics without mentioning India or Isaac Newton!" And in fact, when I read a description of W.W. Rouse Ball's work of a different edition, he specifically calls out Galileo, Kepler, Newton, Leonardo da Vinci, and a whole section on "why the use of Arabic numerals was critical to the development of both commerce and science".

As a result, this production is an unfinished product marketed and presented as the real thing, which is such a slap in the face to the original. What a disgrace.

I guess this is fine to download and preview for free, and if you're interested in this topics, then go out and read the ACTUAL book. I only give this 2 stars because I liked the narration work and the subject matter was interesting; what little we do get OF it.

[James Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a comprehensive overview of the development of mathematics throughout history. The book covers a wide range of mathematical concepts and delves into the lives and contributions of notable mathematicians, providing insight into the historical context in which they lived and worked.
One of the book's strengths is its ability to convey the interconnectedness of mathematical concepts and how they have built upon each other throughout history. This helps readers understand not only the individual contributions of mathematicians, but also how their work has influenced the field as a whole. Additionally, the book covers the impact of mathematics on society and how it has been used in fields such as physics, astronomy, and engineering, providing a broader understanding of the significance of mathematical advancements and their practical applications.
On the other hand, the book's style and language may not be suitable for everyone, especially for those who are not familiar with mathematical concepts and terms. Also, the book may have a Eurocentric bias as it focuses mainly on the mathematical development of Western cultures, while not giving enough attention to mathematical achievements of other cultures.
Overall, "A Short Account of the History of Mathematics" is an informative book that introduces the history of mathematics. If you are interested understanding the subject, it's important to keep in mind that mathematical development is encyclopedic, and this is just a book.

★★★★★ Great book! Can’t wait to read it again (and I will).
★★★★☆ Good book. I am glad I read this.
★★★☆☆ OK book. Nothing special but not bad.
★★☆☆☆ Not good. Why did I waste my time?
★☆☆☆☆ Lousy. I didn’t finish.

If for whatever reason, I go back and reread a good book, I will change the rating to five-star because I read it again.

[Trisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

More than anything... I'm really shocked I finished this. I don't read nonfiction often, let alone nonfiction about the history of mathematics. Regardless, I learned a lot about the history of Western mathematics. It's interesting to see how mathematical innovations were interwoven to other disciplines such as physics, chemistry, and even politics & governance.

I guess this speaks for the relevance of the period in which this book was written in and who wrote it, but the book really is centered mostly on western mathematics. I wish that I learned more about other mathematical discoveries particularly from the East, such as Chinese mathematics, the growth of Hindu-Arabic numerals, and the Mayan's discovery of the concept of zero. With more inclusion on other mathematical discoveries from other areas outside the west, would the title of the history of mathematics be a little bit more globally accurate.

I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in mathematics (lol) or anyone who just wants to sleep. It's pretty tough to follow.

[Will Selman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is incredibly dry. It does have some interesting bits of information that I found interesting (such as the fact that Cardono did not use or believe in negative numbers or zero and that this was not uncommon for mathematicians of his time period, which gave me a new understanding of the reason that theory of equations was so different in his day), but overall it is more of a list of the results of the mathemetions by era and it is often not even in order within a period. There was little context as to the aims of mathematics in a given time period and the importance of many individual works are left without context.
Overall feel this book would have been better if it were written as an encyclopedia of historical mathematicians. Then it would have worked well as a reference book. But as it stands, the book covers too many people to leave room for how mathematics changed over time (which is why math history is useful to the working mathematician; and let's be real that is the only audience for a book of this sort).

[Jacob · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found it a very interesting read from the chapter on systems on numeration until about the 18th century. Some sections are quite verbose and make for heavy reading. Especially having only a more modern mathematical education, the geometric proofs were just too difficult to follow. Also the writer regularly assumes that one speaks French/German/Latin/Greek and does not give a translation for the titles of several works.

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

LISTENER BEWARE....
I listened to the Audible Bedtime Story version. Though narrated well for those purposes and very well written, that version is largely useless and very misleading.
It's a single chapter of a 500+ page book. Audible, however, does not advertise this as an excerpt or abridgement. As such it comes across clunkier and more awkward than the author deserves.

Looking forward to reading the book in full... actually free because apparently it's public domain.

[Damana Madden · Rating 1 out of 5]

Audible did say this was a book to put you to sleep, yet I still downloaded it. Thankfully for free.

I have no idea what the point of this was and even on double speed, I feel I wasted that 15 minutes.

Spend the time brushing your teeth well. Avoid cavities, children,

1 pointless passage about Pythagoras out of 5.

[Lindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 stars for Tony Shalhoub, 3 stars for the brevity. I understand this Audible presentation is meant to be a "help me sleep" sort of thing, and it is good for that purpose. But I need more of Tony Shalhoub channeling his character from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, please.

[LeAnn L Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This audiobook caught my eye when I noticed Tony Shalhoub, (I’m a fan) narrated the mathematical explanations.
If anyone can listen (or read) this book and absorb the profound details of mathematics, I take my hat off to you.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got the audible version that is supposed to help you fall asleep. Totally worked.

[Gabrielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would listen to this like 4-5 times and still fell asleep, can't remember the topic discussed. Tony Shalboub voice is perfect for this.

[Tenzin Namgyal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick summary on a brief history of mathematics. Recommended for light reading but noticeable gaps within chronological order of historical facts.

[Laurel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very short, very interesting, gets me thinking about math!

[Juliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know if I found this interesting or if it was just because Monk was reading it

[Brett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exhaustive and dry.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely shows it's age, but not a terrible jumping off point on the subject.

[Ira · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is of the audiobook narrated by Tony Shalhoub. It is about 30 minutes but I never heard anything past the minute 7... approximately. If you ever have trouble falling asleep - I highly recommend listening to “A Short Account of the History of Zzzzzzzzzzzz 😴...

[RICHARD DELIBERTY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actually just the beginning chapter of a longer 19th century book. Tony Shalhoub reads it as if it were a meditation, and I loved it.

[Mark Stapel · Rating 4 out of 5]

No notes Audible

[Addi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Terribly pointless and largely wrong...Idk what this is or was supposed to be. Skip this

[James F · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like to approach subjects from a historical viewpoint, and since I'm currently trying to improve my knowledge of mathematics, I decided to read some books on the history of mathematics. This was the first, and probably not a great choice. The Dover reprint of the 1908 edition (and with some footnotes obviously added later), it is as the author says in the preface essentially the same as the 2nd edition of 1893 except for some corrections of errors. This has a number of problems; first and most obviously it doesn't cover any recent developments, but the scope is even less than I expected. There is virtually no coverage of pre-Greek mathematics except for a mention of the Rhind papyrus (not much was known then, I suppose), there is no discussion of non-Western mathematics apart from the Hindu mathematicians (the author denies that any "race" other than the "Aryan" and "Semitic" has any real mathematics; other groups are called "tribes"; he says that the Hindus made progress in mathematics for a short time while they kept their "Aryan blood pure" but then "degenerated"), and the nineteenth century is basically represented by a list of names and what areas they worked on, with little or nothing about the actual developments. Even where the coverage of the later mathematics is a bit fuller, the choice of what to include and what to omit seems rather strange from a modern perspective, perhaps because the things I expected to see covered only became important in hindsight because they were used in twentieth century physics. There was also a problem with the terminology; it took me a while to catch on that "differential quotients" were just derivatives, and probably there were other things mentioned that I didn't recognize just because I know them by a more recent name. The book does give a fairly accurate and understandable account of European mathematics from Pythagoras to roughly Gauss, and the material on the Renaissance mathematicians was interesting and mainly new to me; but not a book I would recommend. I'll be looking at the books by Bell and Smith (also old, but at least twentieth century) and some on more specific topics, side by side with my reading in the actual math.

[Valentin Chirosca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This text remains one of the clearest, most authoritative and most accurate works in the field. The standard history treats hundreds of figures and schools instrumental in the development of mathematics, from the Phoenicians to such 19th-century giants as Grassman, Galois, and Riemann.

From the Back Cover

This is the classic resource on the history of math providing a deeper understanding of the subject and how it has impacted our culture, all in one essential volume.
Only someone with the background of W.W. Rouse Ball could cover the origins of math with such breadth and expertise. Ball is the author of many respected textbooks and has worked with the foremost authorities in the field from all over Europe.
From the early Greek influences to the middle ages and the renaissance to the end of the 19th-century, trace the fascinating foundation of mathematics as it developed through the ages.